A bodybuilder who used a Samurai sword to sever part of a man’s hand did not intend to cause the injury, a jury has decided.

Victim Karl Lashley's right hand was left "hanging by a thread" following the violent attack in Charles Street, Herne Bay in June.

Today, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court acquitted Darren Selby, 42, of wounding with intent, and instead convicted him of a lesser charge of unlawful wounding.

But Judge James O’Mahony said that despite the verdict, he viewed Selby as dangerous and remanded him in custody for reports before sentencing in the new year.

He told him it had become “fashionable” for people to own the large Samurai swords, but said "in the wrong hands they could be lethal”.

He said if Mr Lashley - who is the son of Selby’s ex-lover - had not received immediate medical help, he could have bled to death.

Doctors at hospitals in Ashford and East Grinstead battled for 17 hours to try to reconstruct the 27-year-old roofer’s hand.

Selby, of no fixed address, denied the charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and possessing a sword in public.

The jury found him guilty of unlawful wounding and possessing the sword illegally.

During the trial the jury were shown photographs of the “unpleasant and gruesome” injury taken at the time.

Prosecutor Vivian Walters told how Mr Lashley shouted at Selby: "Look what you have done!" before collapsing in agony.

She claimed that when Karl's mother, Laura, arrived in the street she blamed her son for causing the incident and he chased after her and struck her across the face.

Ms Walters claimed Mrs Lashley then hit her son with a rubber mallet, breaking one of his ribs.

Selby told how Mr Lashley had challenged him, saying: "You're a dead man walking".

He claimed Mr Lashley had been banging a mallet on his chest and he feared he was going to be hit over the head.

"I felt I was in a trapped position and if I turned my back he could have killed me," he said.

Selby claimed he grabbed a Samurai sword and used it to try to knock the mallet out of his hand.

He said: "I realised Karl was injured but he just became more mad and made him more... more... more... violent."

“He was shouting so loud I thought he was going to wake the whole of the street up," he added.

After hiding the weapon in a cellar, Selby then fled to London and was arrested two weeks later in Ashford, where he was found hiding in a cupboard.